Oldswinford cyclists raise £7,000 after 500-mile charity ride

FOUR courageous cyclists fromOldswinford pulled out all the stops when they completed a compelling charity bike ride from Yorkshire to Paris.

Medical salesman Mark Upton, Aberystwyth University student Tom Swingler, Marco Di Leo - who works for Hewlett Packard, and Rhodri Williams - a maxillofacial surgeon at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital - were among the riders taking part in the 500-mile, five-day challenge in aid of Breast Cancer Care which was timed to coincide with the Tour de France.

Spokesman Mark Upton said: "I've only just started cycling in the past 12 months, so the prospect of cycling 100 miles a day was a pretty daunting one for me.

"I then managed to get the ride off to a great start by coming off my bike on the first day and suffered cuts and bruising.

"But that was nothing compared to Rhodri who fell off on the second day and fractured his wrist. But he continued the ride with his wrist strapped up in gaffer tape.

"Another rider broke a rib following a fall while one wrote off his bike with 20 miles still remaining. It's fair to say the trip wasn't without incident."

He added: "We chose Breast Cancer Care as within the group we have three friends who have been diagnosed with breast cancer within the past three years.

"We've managed to raise over £7,000 already and we're hoping a bit of publicity will give that total one last push."

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QE maxillofacial surgeons Jason Green, Peter Jeynes, Andrew Monaghan and Matt Idle, Bristol based pharmacist Jonathan Campbell and support vehicle driver Mike Weston from Wolverley also made up the team.

Anyone wishing to boost the group's fundraising efforts can go to the virginmoneygiving.com website and search for any team member's name.

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